Chaired and judged by the father of fractal geometry himself, Benoit Mandelbrot, this annual art contest highlights the playful side of mathematics -- with some stunningly beautiful results. Sure, anyone can make a pretty fractal with a few lucky clicks (I used to spend hours messing around with a desktop fractal generator called Fractint) -- that's the beauty, if you will, of this kind of geometry. And that's where the real challenge of a contest like this begins: if anyone can make something pretty, then it takes real talent to make something truly beautiful! For instance: